ROGER IL (1093-1154), king of Sicily, son of the preceding, began to rule as count in 1112, and from the first aimed at uniting the whole of the Norman conquests in Italy. In 1127, Roger claimed the Hauteville possessions, and the overlordship of Capua, for which Richard II. in 1o98 had sworn homage to Duke Roger, in virtue of a promise made by William, the late duke of Apulia. The union of Sicily and Apulia, however, was resisted by the subjects of the duchy itself, and by the pope at Capua (Dec. 1127) who preached a crusade against the claimant, setting against him Robert II. of Capua and Ranulf of Alife, or Avellino, brother-in-law of Roger. The coalition, however, failed, and in August 1128 Honorius invested Roger at Benevento as duke of Apulia. The baronial resistance, backed by Naples, Bari, Salerno and other cities, whose aim was civic freedom, also gave way, and at Melfi (Sept. 1129) Roger was recognized as duke by Naples, Capua and the rest. He at once began to enforce order in the Hauteville possessions, where the ducal power had long been falling to pieces. For the binding together of his stated the royal name seemed essential, and the death of Honorius in February I13o, followed by a double election, seemed the decisive moment. While Innocent II. fled to France, Roger supported Anacletus II. The price was a crown, and on Sept. 27, 1130, a bull of Anacletus made Roger king of Sicily. He was crowned in Palermo on Dec. 25, 1130.
This plunged Roger into a ten years' war. Bernard of Clair vaux, Innocent's champion, built up against Anacletus and his "half heathen king," a coalition joined by Louis VI. of France, Henry I. of England and the emperor Lothar. Meanwhile the forces of revolt in South Italy drew to a head again, and on June 24, 1132, the king was defeated at Nocera by Ranulf. Never theless, by July 1134, he forced Ranulf, Sergius, duke of Naples, and the rebels to submit, while Robert was expelled from Capua. Meanwhile Lothar's contemplated attack upon Roger had gained the backing of Pisa, Genoa and the Greek emperor, all of whom feared the growth of a powerful Norman kingdom. In February 1137 Lothar moved south and was joined by Ranulf and the rebels; in June he besieged and took Bari. At San Severino, after a victorious campaign, he and the pope jointly invested Ranulf as duke of Apulia (Aug. 1137), and the emperor then retired to Germany. Roger, freed from the utmost danger, recovered ground, sacked Capua and forced Sergius to acknowledge him as overlord of Naples. At Rignano the indomitable Ranulf again
utterly defeated the king, but died in April 1139, leaving none to oppose Roger, who subdued the rebels pitilessly.
The death of Anacletus (Jan. 25, 1138) determined Roger to seek the confirmation of his title from Innocent. The latter, invading the kingdom with a large army, was skilfully ambushed at Galuccio on the Garigliano ( July 22, 1139), and on July 25 the pope invested him as "Rex Siciliae ducatus Apuliae et princi patus Capuae." Roger, now become one of the greatest kings in Europe, made Sicily the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. A powerful fleet was built up under several "admirals," or "emirs," of whom the greatest was George of Antioch, formerly in the service of the Muslim prince of El Mehdia. Mainly by him a series of conquests were made on the African coast (1135-53) which reached from Tripoli to Cape Bona. The second crusade (1147-48) gave Roger an opportunity to revive Robert Guiscard's designs on the Greek Empire. George was sent to Corinth at the end of "47 and despatched an army inland which plundered Thebes. In June 1149 the admiral appeared before Constantinople and defied the Basileus by firing arrows against the palace win dows. The attack on the empire had, however, no abiding results. The king died at Palermo on Feb. 26, 1154, and was succeeded by his fourth son William.
Personally Roger was of tall and powerful body, with long fair hair and full beard. With little of Robert Guiscard's personal valour, he yet showed to the full his uncle's audacity, diplomatic skill and determination. It is Roger II.'s distinction to have united all the Norman conquests into one kingdom and to have subjected them to a government scientific, personal and central ized. The principles of this are found in the Assizes of the kingdom of Sicily, promulgated at Ariano in 1140, which enforced an almost absolute royal power. At Palermo Roger drew round him distinguished men of various races, such as the famous Arab geographer Idrisi and the historian Nilus Doxopatrius. He main tained a complete toleration for the several creeds, races and languages of his realm ; he was served by men of the most diverse nationalities.
Contemporary authors are: Falco of Benevento, Alexander of Telese, Romuald of Salerno and Hugo Falcandus, all in the Scrittori e cronisti napoletani, ed. Del Re, vol. i. See also E. Caspar, Roger II. and die Griindung der normannisch-sicilischen Monarchie (Inns bruck, 1904). (E. Cu.; X.)